Bottle filling and capping machine



March 2, 1937. J. A. LILEY 2,072,759

BOTTLE FILLING AND CAPPING MACHINE 'Filed Jan. 9, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 2,1937. J LILEY 2,072,759

BOTTLE FILLING AND CAPPING MACHINE Filed Jan. 9, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for filling and capping bottles, and particularly to a device of this character used for filling bottles with corbonated liquids.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a filling and capping machine of this type in which the bottle, while it is being filled and capped, is entirely enclosed so that bursting of the bottle cannot occur, or if it does occur,

by any chance, there will be no danger of flying pieces of glass injuring the operator.

A further object is to provide means of this character so constructed that the bottle does not have to be tilted in order to insert it within the bottle filling and capping machine, 'and in which the mouth of the bottle does not have to be forced upward against the cap as is ordinarily the case.

A further object is to provide improved capping means, that is, means whereby the cap may be forced down upon the mouth of the bottle and crimped thereon, and improved means for gripping the neck of the bottle immediately beneath the flange of the mouth so as to prevent liquid or pressure fluid from being forced out around the mouth of the bottle.

A further object is to provide means for automatically opening a filling valve when a bottle has been inserted and the capping plunger is lifted to its highest position, the full depression of the capping plunger permitting the filling valve to close under the action of a spring.

A further object is to provide improved means for holding the two sections of the bottle holder closed.

A still further object is to provide a machine of this type which may be used by small retailers and others for the purpose of filling bottles with soda water or other carbonated drinks.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of my bottle} filling mechanism with the two bottle holding sections opened;

Figure 2 is a top plan View of the rubber packing or gaskets closed against each other, portions of the gaskets being broken away;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary section on the line 3-3 of Figure 4;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Figure 3 and showing the sections closed;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 55 of Figure 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail section of the capping head and the cap holding ring.

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen from Figure 1 that there is a bottle enclosing casing formed in two semi-cylindrical sections, one of these sections being designated l0 and the other H. These sections carry outwardly extending lugs I2 which mutually overlap each 10 other and are pivotaliy engaged with each other by the pin or bolt l3. Thus, the two sections may be turned so as to face each other, or may be turned outward into a bottle receiving position, such as that shown in Figure 1. 15

Each of these sections is provided with a handle section i4 having flat confronting faces so that, as shown in Figure 6, the handle sections may be brought together in opposed relation. The handle sections may be then locked in this posi- 20 tion by the approximately U-shaped latch l5 pivoted at one end, as at It, and adapted to be brought down around the two handle sections to hold them in close engagement with each other. A hand operated cam l 5 mounted on the 25 free end of the latch l5 jams the handle sections against each other.

It will be seen that the two sections l0 and II have generally the form of a bottle provided with a neck, and these two sections are so formed 30 as to snugly enclose the bottle which is to be filled and capped. Preferably, and as illustrated in Figure l, the section H is provided with one or more windows designated l i which may be made of wire netting or may be open whereby the oper- 35 ator can see when the bottles are filled.

The upper end of each of the bottle receiving sections in and l l is open and below the upper end there is provided in each section the inwardly projecting flange I1 defining a central opening I8. 40 Disposed to rest upon these flanges are the semicircular rubber bodies or gaskets l9 and I9, the upper end of each of which is formed with a series of steps 20, as shown particularly in Figures 1 and 3. Each rubber body l9 terminates 5 below the upper end of the bottle enclosing casing, as shown in Figure 3. Disposed immediately above the upper end of the section I 0 is a cap 2| formed at its lower end with the outwardly extending flange 22. Disposed below this cap and 50 carried thereby is an annular metallic body 23 .whose lower face is stepped, as at 24, to fit the steps 20 in the rubber body or gasket l9. The metallic body 23 is also provided with an outwardly @Xtendingflange 25 extending beneath the flange 22 and over the upper end of the body it. This metallic body is formed with the upwardly extending portion 26 which fits within the cap 2i and is recessed to receive the packing 21 and receive the gland 28 which bears against this packing. The lower face of the metallic body 23 is recessed at 29.

The cap 2| at its upper end is formed with an upwardly extending tubular portion 36. Operating through this tubular portion 30 and through the gland 28 and packing is a plunger St. The lower end of this plunger carries an annular inverted cup-shaped head 32, the lower inner face of the member 32 being beveled or rounded downwardly and outwardly as shown in Figure 3. This head 32 is substantially smaller in diameter than the diameter of the recess 29 and surrounding the lower end of this head 32 is a rubber band 33, the lower edge of which is formed with a bead 33 which projects inward beneath the rounded lower edge of the head 32. This is for the purpose of holding the cap A which is designed to engage the bead on the upper end of the bottle B.

The lower end of the plunger is longitudinally recessed at 35 and disposed within this recess and fitting snugly therein is a vertical pin 36 which is longitudinally slotted at 31. A transverse pin 38 passes through this slot, thus permitting the pin 33 to move vertically within the recess 35. The lower end of the pin 36 carries a magnetic head 39 which is designed to attract the cap A and assist in holding this cap in position until the cap is put in place upon the bottle. The cap 2| is held to the upper end of the section by means of screws 2-3 which extend through the flanges 22 and 25 and into the upper end of the section [0.

It is to be understood that while the section i0 is semi-circular in cross section and the gasket or rubber body 59 is also semi-circular in cross section, the metallic body 23 is circular in cross section. This is shown most clearly in Figure l.

The plunger 31 is provided with rack teeth 4! and mounted upon the extension or spindle 30 is a toothed wheel 42 coacting with these rack teeth. A lever 43 is attached to the shaft 44 of the wheel 52 and thus as the lever is raised, the plunger 3! will be raised, and as the lever is depressed, the plunger 3l will be depressed. The lever 43 carries upon it or associated with it the laterally projecting arm 45 and having screw threaded adjustment through this arm at its extremity is a finger 4B which is held in its adjusted position by means of the lock nut 41 or equivalent means.

As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the rear of the gasket section i9 is provided with two apertures -8 and as. The port or aperture 49 communicates with a nipple 5B projecting from a valve casing 5| shown in Figure 3. This valve casing at its lower end is connected to a flexible tube 52 which in turn is connected to a tank or other receptacle having therein the carbonated liquid with which the bottle is to be filled, this being under pressure. The valve casing 5| is formed with a valve seat 53 just below the nipple 5E} and coacting with this seat is the valve 53 held normally closed by a spring 55. The stem of this valve extends up through a stuffing box 56 and is provided in its upper end with a head 51 with which the finger 46 is adapted to coact when the arm 45 descends below the point shown in Figure 3. When this happens, the valve 54 is automatically opened and the carbonated liquid passes into the chamber 29 and fills the bottle B.

The port 48 communicates, as shown in Figure 5, with a pipe connection 58 which in turn communicates with a valve chamber 59. Normally closed against the seat of this chamber is a relief valve 68 having a stem 3! extending out of the chamber and having a head 62. A spring 63 urges the valve 68 to a closed position. When this valve is manually depressed, after the capping operation has been performed, any liquid and gases which may remain within the chamber 29 are blown out through the valve casing and through the pipe 63. A branch pipe 35 leads to a pressure gauge 66 so the operator at all times may see what the pressure is within the chamber 29.

It will be seen from Figures 1 and 2 that the face of the semi-circular rubber gasket 19 is provided with vertically extending ribs 31 while the complementary gasket section l9a is provided with the vertically extending recesses 63 into which the ribs 6'! fit. It will likewise be seen that the section it at its upper end is provided with the vertically extending ribs 69, the ends of which are extended inward to the inner face of the neck of the bottle enclosing section ii) and that the upper end of the section H is provided with complementary recesses to receive the ribs 69.

The lower end of the section It is mounted upon a base or table T which may be of any suitable construction and forms no part of my invention.

In the operation of this structure, the sections are initially in opened position as shown in Figure 1. A bottle A is then inserted, as shown in Figure 3, with the neck of the bottle disposed,

within the central opening of the gasket I9 and the bead at the mouth of the bottle being disposed within the chamber 29. Prior to the insertion of the bottle, a cap A is inserted by hand into the lower end of the capping head 32. The cap is forced upward, forcing out the bead 34 on the rubber band 33. The magnet 39 assists in holding this cap in place and drawing the cap upward until the cap has passed the bead 34. The cap will then be in the position shown in Figure 3. At this time, the parts are in the position shown in Figure 3, the valve 54 is closed and the valve Gil is closed. The section I l is then swung against the section I0 so as to hold the bottle within the two sections and, of course, the gasket l9a bears tightly against the bottle neck and against the gasket section l9 so that a tight closure is made all around the bottle neck. As soon as this has been accomplished, the lever 43 is shifted to the left in Figure 3, thus slightly is discharged into the bottle, filling the bottle.

As soon as the operator sees that the bottle is filled, which is permitted by the window H he reverses the movement of the lever 43 which permits the valve 54 to close under the action of the spring 53, and this action of the lever 33 depresses the plunger 3|, forcing the cap down upon the bottle and crimping the cap over the bead at the open end of the bottle. The lever is then reversed to the position shown in Figure 3, the section II is swung out from the section I, the latch I5 being of course previously released, and the bottle is removed and a new bottle is inserted.

Prior to the removal of the filled bottle after the cap, as shown in Figure 3.

liquid to be blown out through the relief port 48.

It will be seen that this bottle filling mechanism provides a quick and easy way to fill bottles with carbonated liquid without any danger to the operator. Even if the pressure should be so great as to burst the bottle, no harm can happen to the operator because of the fact that the bottle is enclosed within a casing ll. Preferably the window I! will be closed by wire netting so as to prevent any possibility of pieces of broken glass being forced out through the opening H The action of the apparatus is semieautomatic in that when the operator fully raises the plunger 3! by the operation of the lever $3, the inlet valve will be automatically opened and the inlet valve is automatically closed as the operator brings the lever to the position shown in Figure 3. The relief valve, however, is hand operated. The depression of the plunger carriers the cap A down- Ward against the mouth of the bottle B and then a further depression of the plunger causes the capping head 32 to move further downward until the gasket H presses against the magnet 39 and positively forces the cap down against the bottle while the capping head 32 is crimping the cap beneath the bead b of the bottle.

Attention is called to the fact that it is desirable to provide not only the magnetic head 39 but the rubber band with the bead 36 on the cap holder 32. This rubber band with the inwardly extending bead 34 is particularly designed for the purpose of holding the cap in place and preventing the bottle cap from shifting to one side across the face of the magnet when the filling valve is opened and the carbonated water rushing in with considerable force might act to shift the cap to one side. Furthermore, when the excess air and pressure is let out through the exhaust valve to permit the bottle to be filled, this sudden escaping of this excess pressure produces a suction or partial vacuum in the filling chamber which occasionally pulls the cap loose from the magnet. The rubber band with its bead 34 prevents this by fitting around the lower edge of It is to be understood that when the bottle is placed in the machine with the desired amount of syrup, the remainder of the bottle above the syrup is filled with air, and when the machine is closed for filling, this space above the bottle is air-tight and no air can escape until the exhaust valve is opened. When the carbonated liquid is turned into the filling chamber, the bottle becomes partially filled and then the filling stops unless the operator opens the exhaust valve occasionally so that the bottle is filled to the proper height and retains the desired amount of pressure.

While I have illustrated certain details of construction and a certain arrangement of parts which I have found thoroughly satisfactory in actual use, I do not wish to be limited to these details as many minor changes might be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bottle filling and capping machine including opposed complementary bottle enclosing body sections hinged to each other for movement into or out of opposition, means for clamping said sections in opposed relation, each section being semicircular in cross section and at its upper end having a neck portion, the lower end of each neck portion having a transversely extending semiannular flange, a semi-circular packing member disposed above the flange of each neck portion, the packing members when the sections are closed upon each other abutting at their ends against each other, the upper end of each packing section being stepped, the upper end of each body section having an outwardly extending flange, a casing having an outwardly extending flange at its lower end and supported upon and attached to the flange of one of said body sections, said casing having at its lower end an annular portion extending into the body sections when the latter are closed, said downwardly extending portion being stepped upon its lower face to interfit with the stepped upper end of the packing sections, said casing having a liquid inlet and having a pressure relief outlet, 9, housing mounted upon the upper end of the casing, a plunger rod extending through the housing and into the easing and at its lower end carrying a capping head disposed in the lower end of the casing, the cap ping head at its lower end being annular to provide a circumferential wall outwardly beveled at its lower extremity, cap retaining means mounted upon the lower extremity of the capping head, means carried by the housing for reciprocating the plunger, and packing means in the upper end of the casing engaging the plunger.

2. A bottle filling and capping machine including opposed complementary bottle enclosing sections hinged to each other for movement into or out of opposition, means for retaining said sections in opposed relation, each section carrying a bottle mouth engaging elastic packing, the packings being adapted toabut against each other when the sections are closed, a housing attached to the upper end of one bottle enclosing section and projecting over the upper end of the other bottle enclosing section when the sections are closed, the housing having an inlet port and a pressure relief port, a plunger movable through the casing and having a capping head, a valve casing communicating with the inlet port, a valve in the casing normally urged to a closed position, manually operable means for reciprocating the plunger, means acting automatically when the plunger is raised to open said inlet valve, a pressure relief pipe connected to the relief port and having therein a normally closed valve, and means for opening said valve.

3. A bottle filling and capping machine including opposed complementary bottle enclosing sections hinged to each other for movement into or out of opposition, means for retaining said sections in opposed relation and in contact with each other, each section carrying a bottle mouth engaging elastic packing section, the packing sections being compressed against each other when the bottle enclosing sections are closed, a housing attached to the upper end of one of the bottle enclosing sections and adapted to extend over the other bottle enclosing section when the sections are closed against each other, the housing having a central chamber in its lower end, the chamber having an inlet port and a relief port, an inlet valve casing connected to the inlet port, a valve therein urged to a closed position and having a stem extending out through the valve casing, a manually operable relief valve controlling passage from the relief port, a plunger having a capping head disposed within said chamber, the plunger extending up through said housing, means for operating the plunger including a lever, an arm extending from the lever, and a finger carried by the arm and adapted when the lever is shifted to raise the plunger to engage against the inlet valve stem and open the inlet valve,

4. A bottle filling and capping machine including opposed complementary bottle enclosing sections hinged to each other for movement into or out of opposition, means for retaining said sections in opposed relation, each section at its upper end carrying a semi-annular bottle neck engaging packing section, the upper end of each packing section being stepped downward and inward, an annular housing mounted upon the upper end of one of said sections and adapted to extend over the upper end of the other section when the sections are closed and having an annular metallic body therein, the under face of which is stepped to complement the stepped portions on the upper ends of the packing sections, the central portion of said metallic body being formed to provide a chamber, a plunger mounted in said body and carrying a capping head at its lower end disposed within said chamber, and means for reciprocating said plunger.

5. A bottle filling and capping machine including opposed complementary bottle enclosing sections hinged to each other for movement into or out of opposition, means for retaining said sections in opposed relation, each section at its upper end carrying a semi-annular bottle neck engaging packing section, the upper end of each packing section being stepped downward and inward, an annular housing mounted upon the upper end of one of said sections and adapted to extend over the upper end of the other section when the sections are closed and having an annular metallic body therein, the under face of which is stepped to complement the stepped portions on the upper ends of the packing sections, the central portion of said metallic body being formed to provide a chamber, a plunger mounted in said body and carrying a capping head at its lower end disposed within said chamber, the capping head being annular in cross section and having a beveled lower wall, magnetic means disposed within the capping head for holding a bottle cap therein, and means for reciprocating the plunger.

6. In a bottle capping machine, a plunger, a capping head disposed on the lower end of the plunger, the capping head being annular in cross section to provide a circumferential wall, the lower edge of said wall being beveled downward and outward, an elastic rubber band fitting around the lower edge of said wall and extending below said lower edge and having an inwardly projecting annular bead adapted to engage beneath the cap, the lower end of the plunger above the capping head having a central bore, a pin slidably mounted within said bore, and a magnetic head carried by the lower end of said pin and adapted to engage the cap, means for reciprocating the plunger, and means for supporting the bottle with its mouth immediately beneath the plunger.

'7. A bottle filling and capping machine, including a fixed bottle enclosing section and a bottle enclosing section hinged to the first named section for swinging movement at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the sections, both of said sections being approximately semi-circular in cross-section, the sections when closed being adapted to entirely enclose a bottle, each section at its upper end having a semi-circular neck portion and bottle neck engaging packing members carried therein, the fixed section at its upper end having a housing extending laterally outward therefrom and adapted to extend over the upper end of the movable section when the latter is closed, the housing having a liquid inlet pipe, a relief pipe, and a plunger movable through the housing and having a capping head.

8. A bottle filling and capping mechanism, including a fixed section semi-circular in crosssection and a complementary movable section hinged to the fixed section for swinging movement at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the sections, means for clamping said sections in opposed relation to entirely enclose a bottle, each section at its upper end having a semi-circular neck portion, semi-circular bottle neck engaging packing sections disposed within the neck portions of the body sections, the bottle neck engaging portion of the fixed section having a liquid inlet pipe and a relief pipe opening into the space above said packing members, a cylindrical housing mounted upon the fixed bottle enclosing section and projecting over the open end of the other bottle enclosing section when the sections are engaged with each other, a plunger movable through said housing and having a capping head at its lower end, the capping head having means for retaining a bottle cap upon its lower face, and means carried by the housing for reciprocating said plunger.

JAMES ARTHUR LILEY. 

